Have you ever been inundated with a stream of non-stop sales messages?
Well, meet the replacement: content marketing. It’s a strategy that makes a company, a publisher, and its marketers magazine editors. Generally, customers are provided with research to make informed decisions, and the company and its executives are viewed as experts on the topic.
As publishers companies produce all sorts of informative materials to lure in prospects and increase the customer base, to optimize websites for more customer interaction and to tap into multiple social media platforms. The material that makes up the content may include the following:
- articles
- blogs
- case studies
- customer testimonials
- e-newsletters
- forums
- micro-sites
- online video
- podcasts
- webinars
- white papers
Marketing departments bank on content. For instance, some develop articles and other materials around a product announcement or company news. The articles appeal to customers’ challenges, needs and interests. These are identified from focus groups, surveys or other data.
Content is even tracked to learn which materials are converting readers into customers, and this information is integrated with customer relationship management systems.
Marketers have encountered a few challenges with content marketing. Some marketers, attempting to produce more content in order to participate and drive conversations, are finding it difficult to leverage the content on various social media platforms.
Overall, content marketing differentiates customers from prospects based on their stage in the buying cycle.